U.S. Gulf: The NOLA granular potash market was reported to have weakened last week, with new trades put between $305-$310/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash fill was pegged at $350-$355/st FOB for red and $362/st FOB for white granular tons in the Eastern Cornbelt. Rail-delivered potash fill was quoted at $360-$367/st in the region.
Western Cornbelt: Potash fill tons were generally reported at $350-$362/st FOB out of warehouses in the Western Cornbelt last week, with the lower end of the range for red and the upper end for white granular product. Rail-delivered fill tons were pegged at $360-$267/st for product shipped by Sept. 30. “There is some interest in fill, but not a lot,” said one Iowa contact.
Northern Plains: Potash fill offers were pegged at $355-$362/st FOB regional warehouses in the Northern Plains, with the low for red and the upper end for white granular tons. After netbacks, the fill market FOB Saskatchewan mines was pegged at roughly $305-$315/st for standard, $310-$320/st for granular, and $317-$327/st for soluble to U.S. customers.
The order period for potash fill from PCS was slated to end on July 10, but several sources speculated that tons could still be ordered at fill levels from Canadian producers last week.
Great Lakes: The potash market in the Great Lakes region was tagged at $355-$362/st FOB for summer fill, with the low for red and the upper end for white granular tons. One source said there was “not much interest in fill potash right now,” however.
The sulfate of potash (SOP) market remained at $740/st FOB Toledo, Ohio.
SOP Magnesia was pegged at $540/st FOB Wayland, Mich.
Northeast: Potash fill tons were quoted at $352/st FOB Baltimore for red, with the upper end of the regional range reported at $362/st FOB for white granular and/or soluble potash fill. Rail-delivered potash was pegged at $360-$367/st in the Northeast.
Sri Lanka: The government called a tender to close Monday, July 20, for 7,000 mt of MOP. The tons are to be delivered in October.
India: IFFCO is reported to have awarded its tender for 2,000 mt of potassium sulfate, which closed June 19, to four suppliers. The producer received 14 offers in total, with sources reporting the lowest offer backed by Chinese material at just short of $585/mt CFR. It is not yet known, however, which suppliers took the awards.
Southeast Asia: Prices appear to have slipped further this week in the Indonesian market, with standard material quoted at around $315-$320/mt CFR. The market is largely out of season, however.
Similarly, standard prices in Malaysia are still reported as low as $305/mt CFR. Prices in smaller markets such as Vietnam remain at around the $320-$325/mt CFR level for standard potash.
It remains to be seen if the prices announced by Canpotex last week – and likely to be targeted by other main suppliers – can be achieved in the coming weeks. Canpotex set its prices for standard material at $335/mt CFR and granular at $350/mt CFR for new business in all Southeast Asian markets.
Russia: Citing sources close to the company, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported that Uralkali may upgrade its 2015 production forecast in August, but provided no likely new output target. News reports, quoting Interfax news agency, also suggested that the potash producer could sell 11.4-11.6 million mt of potash in 2015.
A spokesperson for Uralkali, however, told Green Markets last week that the new 2015 production target of 10.4-10.8 million mt announced in the company’s conference call late